Drier.



F. G. SARGENT.

DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 4. ISI?.

Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. G. SARGENT.

DRIER.

APPLlcATxoN FILED1UNE4. 1911.

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:FREDERICK G. SARGENT, 0F WESTFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR 'IO C. G. SARGENTS SONS CORPOBATON, 0F GRANITEVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORFCRATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

DRIER.

Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

Application filed June 4, 1917. Serial No. 172,533.

To all whom t may concern:

Be 1t known that l, FREDERICK G. SAR- onxr, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVestford, in the county of Middlesex andrState of Massachusetts, have invented a new and'useful Drier, of which the. following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for drying wool and other fibrous materials.

rThe principal objects of the invention are to prov'ide a drier of the conveyer type in which the librous material will be causedto pass through the drier by going back and forth through a plurality of courses and thus enabling it to be subjected to the action of the drying current a plurality of times; to provide means for positively operating adjacent conveyers, said means being located all at one end of the machine thus materially simplifying the driving mechanism; and more specifically to arrange this operating mechanism so that it comprises a single series of operating gears arranged in alinement and operating the several conveyers in an extremely simple manner. The invention also involves improvements in the Way of operating the feeding apron so that it can run from one of these gears and improvements in the means for positively feeding the fiber forward from the point Where deposited by the feeding apron on the first conveyer. The invention also involves improvements in the construction by which the air thatis brought in for drying purposes will ordinarily pass through a plurality of layers of fibrous material, but, in case any one of these layers becomes too thoroughly matted to allow the air to pass through, a by-pass will be provided to permit the air to go through the rest of its course and have its full force and effect on the fibrous material on the other conveyers or strands. This is important because these conditions exist usually for short periods on account of the reciprocation of the conveyers, and yet if these by-passes are not provided the Whole system Would be choked up during such periods and the efficiency of the machine very greatly lessened instead of only being slightly lessened as by this arrangement. Further objects and advantages of the invention ivill appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in Which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drier constructed in accordance with this invention;

F ig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on enlarged scale showing one of the features, with slight modifications;

Fig is a transverse sectional View on enlarged scale on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and' Fig. 4 isa similar View of certain portions enlarged.

The invention is shown as applied to a drier having a casing 10 of the usual form and provided with a plurality of blowers 11 as usual. Means for operating these blowers is not a part of this invention and is not illustrated.

In a general Way it may be stated that there is a feed apron 12 operated to feed the stock up and then down a slide 123 on the end of a top conveyor 14. This operates in a manner to be described, and delivers at the upper end on a slanting surface 15,'the material falling on another screen or conveyer strand 16 which delivers to a slanting surface 17 and a third conveyer 18 delivering to a conveyor 19 which does not constitute a part of this invention.

The driving shaft 2O is provided with a pulley 21 having a belt from which it re.- ceives power. lt is provided with a pinion (not shown) Which meshes ivith a gear 22 which by means of a pinion also not shown. directly drives a gear 23. This gear is in mesh with a gear 24 which in turn is in mesh with a gear 25. These three gears being directly in mesh with each other rotate in opposite directions, that is the gears 23 and 25 rotate alike and the gear 2din the other direction. Each of these gears is provided vivith an arm 26 fixed to it or to its shaft and this arm is connected by a link 27 with one of the. three conveyers 1st, 1G and 18. From what has been said and from the position of the parts shoivn it Will be obvious that this construction results in reciprocating tivo conveyers 1t and 18 in one direction While the intermediate conveyer 16 moves in the opposite direction. This results in securing the prescribed course of the fiber set forth above.

One of the gears, as for example 23, is provided with a. link 28 connected with an arm 29 adapted to oscillate on a shaft 30 which is provided with a ratchet Wheel 81. rlfhe arm 29 has a spring or gravity pawl 32. Consequently the rotation of the gear 23 oscillates the arm 29 and intermittently rotates the wheel 31 and shaft 30. By this shaft the feed apron 12 is operated and consequently this apron is operatedV intermittently in a very simple manner without any real comV plication. of the machinery. In this way all the operating mechanism can be concentrated at one end of the machine as stated above.

The Object of the intermittent operation of the feed apron is to feed while the upper conveyer lfl is moving forward on its active stroke and to avoid feeding to it while it is moving back. This can be accomplished as shown in Fig. 2 by feeding the apron coiistantly but omitting half the rows of feed ing teeth 83 at regular intervals.

The liber is kept iii loose condition and positively fed forward by one or more kick-y 4l carrying a cross bar A second bar of that Veryrlittle'air can go through it.

asimilar-nature t3 is located directly under it vand connected with it by hinges 44. The pivots of said hinges are nearly under the shaft 47v and the arms lextend backwardly from this shaft. Y v

Y0n the bar d3 are mounted kicker fingers Ll5 for feeding the-material forward after it slides down the chute 13, and thus positively insuring its starting. along the 'coiiveyer and reventin its iiliiio' un at this end and also i t: .L

for lifting it up to admit the drying air. The shaft is oscillated so as tomove these teeth back and forth. instead of rotating them as usual. On account of the joint between the members l and fi-3 they move forward posi'tivelyhut inove backward in aA loose condition so'tliat they will pass over any obstruction that may be inthe way.

On the shaft 47 a sprocket wheel i6 whichby a chain drives a similar wheel on a shaft 48. This shaft has arms 41 which carries fixed teeth removably attached by blocks 49. These teeth. also oscillate for lifting up the i'iloer and allowing the airrto circulate through it at another point on the first 'conveyeit y Y VThe circulation of the drying air is another important feature of this invention. In the forni shown,y it passes from the fans inwardly, under the bottom conveyer 18 and then up through the other conveyers 16 and- 14 and out at the side as shown by the arrows in Fig. 3. Sometimes it happens, Vhowever, that temporarily iibrous material on one of the conveyeis is matted so closeIly that case with 'the ordinary constructions the drying action would be temporarily inter-1 rupted for yall of the conveyers. In order to avoid this the following"construction is. provided. Brackets 5() are arranged to support longitudinal rails 51 preferably formed of rolled shapes as for example7 Vs, these rails being stationary. On these .rails are supported loose wheels 52 shaped to fit the rails. Above the wheels are arranged longitudi-naliails 53 of the same shape `ras the rails 51 but in'vertediand- Aresting on the wheels. These rails 53A are provided with' longitudinal bars 54 which 'support cross bars 55 oil-which `pins 55 are mounted that serve to move the stock. Thesepins move betweeiistationary"perforated slats 57 formed of sheet metal bent over at itsedges to give it a Vdove-tail shape and fitting on similarly shaped projectionsv 58 cutting-out openings in the/upper edges of the vertical ianges formed by stationary transverse angle irons 59. These are supportedon the brackets 50.V At points just inside the rolls` are arranged vertical partitions 60. These are spaced from the'side walls of the casing and from the Vbrackets above. They serve as wool guides and also permit air to circulate around7 under, behind and over them in the direction of the two longv arrows shown in Fig. 3 at the sides of the compartments.

On account of this construction the air ordinarily would pass through Vin the wa?,7 that has been described, but if the wool gets matted lon one of the conveyers, as for eX- ample, the coiiveyer 16, the air will pass around that conveyerfand will haveits full force and effect on the material on the'c'onveyei's 18 and le. In this way two-thirds of the Yloss due to this causeV is avoided. The Y latter Vfeatures of the invent-ion are notl lime ited to the reciprocating. type of coiiveyer Vnor to the direction of aircirculai'zion indicated hy the arrows.

It. will be understood, of course, thatbv the use of the wheels 52 the reciprocating of the bars and parts supportedV by them is oi' the overcoming of much friction.

This invention, although capable .of general use, is especially adapted for long fiber Vstock such as Southern palmettoV reeds and the use of the oscillating kickers is Vvery important in this connection because the rotary ones injure the stock and tangle-it up.l It willibe understood that the air can be caused to circulatein exactly the opposite way toV that shown if desired; Also Vthe bypasses can be closed alternately on the two sides to Provide a longer course for the upper by-passes on the left and the middle one on the vright can be closed.

, Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of the invention lI am aware ofthe fact that modicationscan vbe accomplished without the use of much power l made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to be limited to all the details of construction herein shown and described, but what I do claim is 1. In a drier, the combination with the drier casing, of a reciprocating conveyer therein, means for reciprocating said conveyer, an endless feed apron for delivering material to said conveyer, and means connected with the first named means'for operating said apron intermittently to cause it to feed while the conveyer is moving forward on its feeding stroke and to operate idly when it is moving back so as to prevent the stock piling up on said conveyer.

2. In a drier, the combination with the drier casing, of a reciprocating conveyer therein, a gear for reciprocating said conveyer, a link connecting said gear with the conveyer, a feed apron, and means connected with said gear for intermittently operating said apron to cause it to feed while the conveyer is moving forward on its feeding stroke and to operate idly when it is moving back, to prevent the stock piling up on the conveyer, said means comprising a ratchet wheel for operating the conveyer, and a link having a ratchet pawl thereon for operating the ratchet wheel.

3. In a drier, the combination with a drier casing, of a reciprocating conveyer therein, a feed apron at one end of the casing, means for operating said feed apron, to deliver to the conveyer only about half the time, whereby the material will not be fed t0 the eonveyer when it is near one end of its stroke, and an oscillating kicker for lifting the fiber as it is deposited on the conveyer by the feed apron, moving it forward thereon in the direction of travel of the conveyer, and loosening it up.

l. In a drier, the combination with a conveyer for :fibrous material, of a jointed oscillating kicker support located over the conveyer movable forward and backward positively as a whole, and having operative kicker fingers independently pivoted thereto and movable back independently by gravity.

5. In a drier, the combination of an oscillating shaft, and kicker fingers pivotally supported by said shaft, the line about which the said lingers are pivoted and adapted to swing being forward of said lingers. whereby the fingers will move forward positively but will be capable of yielding about their 'hinge when moving backward.

6. In a drier, the combination of a conveyer, a feed apron for delivering stock thereto, an oscillating shaft above the conveyer, arms on said shaft, a plurality of kickerV fingers mounted on said arms,

whereby said kicker fingers will swing back and forth to raise and loosen the stock, and means for adjusting said shaft comprising adjusting screws and eccentric bushings supported by said screws and carrying the shaft.

7. In a drier, the combination of a conveyer, an oscillating shaft, a bar fixed to said shaft and located parallel with the shaft, a second bar hinged to the first bar at one side thereof, and kicker fingers mounted on the second bar, the line about which the second bar is adapted to swing being forward of said bars and of the lingers, whereby the fingers will move forward positively but will be capable of yielding about their hinge when moving backward.

8. In a drier, the combination of a conveyer, a feed apron for delivering stock thereto, an oscillating shaft above the conveyer at the feed end thereof, arms on said shaft, a bar fixed to said arms, and located parallel with the shaft, a second bar hinged to the first bar at one side thereof, and kicker lingers mounted on the second bar, the line about which the second bar is adapted to swing being forward of said bars and of the lingers, whereby the fingers will move forward positively but will be capable of yielding about their hinge when moving backward.

9. In a drier, the combination with the drier casing, of a plurality of pairs of fixed rails, the same number of reciprocable rails, freely rotatable rolls between each two pairs of rails, slanting pins movable with the movable rails, stationary members extending across the casing and having'upwardly extending projections, and longitudinal perforated slats carried by said projections for supporting the stock, said pins being located to move between said slats.

10. In a drier, the combination with the drier casing, of a plurality of reciprocating conveyers therein, one over another, means for reciprocating each conveyer, said casing having a plurality of pairs of iixed rails, one for each conveyer, and said conveyers each comprising a movable rail on each side, freely rotatable rolls between each two pairs of rails, cross bars carried by said rails, longitudinal bars carried by the cross bars, slanting pins on the longitudinal bars, stationary angle irons extending across the casing and having upwardly extending projections of dove-tail shape, longitudinal slats carried by said dove-tail projections and having edges fitting down over the sides thereof for supporting the stock, said pins being located between said slats.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

FREDERICK G. SARGEN'I.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C, 

